464 research outputs found
The Adaptive Priority Queue with Elimination and Combining
Priority queues are fundamental abstract data structures, often used to
manage limited resources in parallel programming. Several proposed parallel
priority queue implementations are based on skiplists, harnessing the potential
for parallelism of the add() operations. In addition, methods such as Flat
Combining have been proposed to reduce contention by batching together multiple
operations to be executed by a single thread. While this technique can decrease
lock-switching overhead and the number of pointer changes required by the
removeMin() operations in the priority queue, it can also create a sequential
bottleneck and limit parallelism, especially for non-conflicting add()
operations.
In this paper, we describe a novel priority queue design, harnessing the
scalability of parallel insertions in conjunction with the efficiency of
batched removals. Moreover, we present a new elimination algorithm suitable for
a priority queue, which further increases concurrency on balanced workloads
with similar numbers of add() and removeMin() operations. We implement and
evaluate our design using a variety of techniques including locking, atomic
operations, hardware transactional memory, as well as employing adaptive
heuristics given the workload.Comment: Accepted at DISC'14 - this is the full version with appendices,
including more algorithm
Low EUV Luminosities Impinging on Protoplanetary Disks
The amount of high-energy stellar radiation reaching the surface of
protoplanetary disks is essential to determine their chemistry and physical
evolution. Here, we use millimetric and centimetric radio data to constrain the
EUV luminosity impinging on 14 disks around young (~2-10Myr) sun-like stars.
For each object we identify the long-wavelength emission in excess to the dust
thermal emission, attribute that to free-free disk emission, and thereby
compute an upper limit to the EUV reaching the disk. We find upper limits lower
than 10 photons/s for all sources without jets and lower than photons/s for the three older sources in our sample. These latter
values are low for EUV-driven photoevaporation alone to clear out
protoplanetary material in the timescale inferred by observations. In addition,
our EUV upper limits are too low to reproduce the [NeII] 12.81 micron
luminosities from three disks with slow [NeII]-detected winds. This indicates
that the [NeII] line in these sources primarily traces a mostly neutral wind
where Ne is ionized by 1 keV X-ray photons, implying higher photoevaporative
mass loss rates than those predicted by EUV-driven models alone. In summary,
our results suggest that high-energy stellar photons other than EUV may
dominate the dispersal of protoplanetary disks around sun-like stars.Comment: Accepted for publication to The Astrophysical Journa
The Evolution of Dust Disk Sizes from a Homogeneous Analysis of 1-10 Myr old Stars
We utilize ALMA archival data to estimate the dust disk size of 152
protoplanetary disks in Lupus (1-3 Myr), Chamaeleon I (2-3 Myr), and Upper-Sco
(5-11 Myr). We combine our sample with 47 disks from Tau/Aur and Oph whose dust
disk radii were estimated, as here, through fitting radial profile models to
visibility data. We use these 199 homogeneously derived disk sizes to identify
empirical disk-disk and disk-host property relations as well as to search for
evolutionary trends. In agreement with previous studies, we find that dust disk
sizes and millimeter luminosities are correlated, but show for the first time
that the relationship is not universal between regions. We find that disks in
the 2-3 Myr-old Cha I are not smaller than disks in other regions of similar
age, and confirm the Barenfeld et al. (2017) finding that the 5-10 Myr USco
disks are smaller than disks belonging to younger regions. Finally, we find
that the outer edge of the Solar System, as defined by the Kuiper Belt, is
consistent with a population of dust disk sizes which have not experienced
significant truncation
A likely planet-induced gap in the disc around T Cha
We present high-resolution (0.11 × 0.06 arcsec2) 3 mm ALMA observations of the highly inclined transition disc around the star T Cha. Our continuum image reveals multiple dust structures: an inner disc, a spatially resolved dust gap, and an outer ring. When fitting sky-brightness models to the real component of the 3 mm visibilities, we infer that the inner emission is compact (≤1 au in radius), the gap width is between 18 and 28 au, and the emission from the outer ring peaks at ∼36 au. We compare our ALMA image with previously published 1.6 μm VLT/SPHERE imagery. This comparison reveals that the location of the outer ring is wavelength dependent. More specifically, the peak emission of the 3 mm ring is at a larger radial distance than that of the 1.6 μm ring, suggesting that millimeter-sized grains in the outer disc are located farther away from the central star than micron-sized grains. We discuss different scenarios to explain our findings, including dead zones, star-driven photoevaporation, and planet-disc interactions. We find that the most likely origin of the dust gap is from an embedded planet, and estimate – for a single planet scenario – that T Cha's gap is carved by a 1.2MJup planet
Low Extreme-ultraviolet Luminosities Impinging on Protoplanetary Disks
The amount of high-energy stellar radiation reaching the surface of protoplanetary disks is essential to determine their chemistry and physical evolution. Here, we use millimetric and centimetric radio data to constrain the extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) luminosity impinging on 14 disks around young (~2-10 Myr) sun-like stars. For each object we identify the long-wavelength emission in excess to the dust thermal emission, attribute that to free-free disk emission, and thereby compute an upper limit to the EUV reaching the disk. We find upper limits lower than 10^(42) photons s^(–1) for all sources without jets and lower than 5 × 10^(40) photons s^(–1) for the three older sources in our sample. These latter values are low for EUV-driven photoevaporation alone to clear out protoplanetary material in the timescale inferred by observations. In addition, our EUV upper limits are too low to reproduce the [Ne II] 12.81 μm luminosities from three disks with slow [Ne II]-detected winds. This indicates that the [Ne II] line in these sources primarily traces a mostly neutral wind where Ne is ionized by 1 keV X-ray photons, implying higher photoevaporative mass loss rates than those predicted by EUV-driven models alone. In summary, our results suggest that high-energy stellar photons other than EUV may dominate the dispersal of protoplanetary disks around sun-like stars
Homogeneous Analysis of the Dust Morphology of Transition Disks Observed with ALMA: Investigating Dust Trapping and the Origin of the Cavities
We analyze the dust morphology of 29 transition disks (TDs) observed with
ALMA at (sub-) millimeter-emission. We perform the analysis in the visibility
plane to characterize the total flux, cavity size, and shape of the ring-like
structure. First, we found that the relation is much
flatter for TDs than the observed trends from samples of class II sources in
different star forming regions. This relation demonstrates that cavities open
in high (dust) mass disks, independent of the stellar mass. The flatness of
this relation contradicts the idea that TDs are a more evolved set of disks.
Two potential reasons (not mutually exclusive) may explain this flat relation:
the emission is optically thick or/and millimeter-sized particles are trapped
in a pressure bump. Second, we discuss our results of the cavity size and ring
width in the context of different physical processes for cavity formation.
Photoevaporation is an unlikely leading mechanism for the origin of the cavity
of any of the targets in the sample. Embedded giant planets or dead zones
remain as potential explanations. Although both models predict correlations
between the cavity size and the ring shape for different stellar and disk
properties, we demonstrate that with the current resolution of the
observations, it is difficult to obtain these correlations. Future observations
with higher angular resolution observations of TDs with ALMA will help to
discern between different potential origins of cavities in TDs
Mathematical practice, crowdsourcing, and social machines
The highest level of mathematics has traditionally been seen as a solitary
endeavour, to produce a proof for review and acceptance by research peers.
Mathematics is now at a remarkable inflexion point, with new technology
radically extending the power and limits of individuals. Crowdsourcing pulls
together diverse experts to solve problems; symbolic computation tackles huge
routine calculations; and computers check proofs too long and complicated for
humans to comprehend.
Mathematical practice is an emerging interdisciplinary field which draws on
philosophy and social science to understand how mathematics is produced. Online
mathematical activity provides a novel and rich source of data for empirical
investigation of mathematical practice - for example the community question
answering system {\it mathoverflow} contains around 40,000 mathematical
conversations, and {\it polymath} collaborations provide transcripts of the
process of discovering proofs. Our preliminary investigations have demonstrated
the importance of "soft" aspects such as analogy and creativity, alongside
deduction and proof, in the production of mathematics, and have given us new
ways to think about the roles of people and machines in creating new
mathematical knowledge. We discuss further investigation of these resources and
what it might reveal.
Crowdsourced mathematical activity is an example of a "social machine", a new
paradigm, identified by Berners-Lee, for viewing a combination of people and
computers as a single problem-solving entity, and the subject of major
international research endeavours. We outline a future research agenda for
mathematics social machines, a combination of people, computers, and
mathematical archives to create and apply mathematics, with the potential to
change the way people do mathematics, and to transform the reach, pace, and
impact of mathematics research.Comment: To appear, Springer LNCS, Proceedings of Conferences on Intelligent
Computer Mathematics, CICM 2013, July 2013 Bath, U
Coherently aligned nanoparticles within a biogenic single crystal: A biological prestressing strategy
In contrast to synthetic materials, materials produced by organisms are formed in ambient conditions and with a limited selection of elements. Nevertheless, living organisms reveal elegant strategies for achieving specific functions, ranging from skeletal support to mastication, from sensors and defensive tools to optical function. Using state-of-the-art characterization techniques, we present a biostrategy for strengthening and toughening the otherwise brittle calcite optical lenses found in the brittlestar Ophiocoma wendtii This intriguing process uses coherent nanoprecipitates to induce compressive stresses on the host matrix, functionally resembling the Guinier-Preston zones known in classical metallurgy. We believe that these calcitic nanoparticles, being rich in magnesium, segregate during or just after transformation from amorphous to crystalline phase, similarly to segregation behavior from a supersaturated quenched alloy
Semantic Web Tools and Decision-Making
Semantic Web technologies are intertwined with decision-making
processes. In this paper the general objectives of the semantic web tools are reviewed
and characterized, as well as the categories of decision support tools, in
order to establish an intersection of utility and use. We also elaborate on actual
and foreseen possibilities for a deeper integration, considering the actual implementation,
opportunities and constraints in the decision-making context.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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